The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI Monday has more than the usual relevance to the non-Catholic world, at least in America, where incidents of sexual abuse by Catholic priests continue to rise to public scrutiny.

Many believe more decisive and progressive leadership from the Vatican over the past decade could have resolved the crisis more satisfactorily by placing the institution obviously on the side of the victims rather than the abusers it once systematically protected. Benedict XVI rejected reform movements and embraced older Catholic traditions at a time when birth control was widely accepted even among Catholic women and gay marriage was gaining momentum as a human right.

The way the pope is chosen does not lend itself to revolutionary picks: Benedict himself appointed more than half of the cardinals who will make the choice. This is, of course, the church's business, not the public's. But the Catholic Church exerts influence on public policy that affects non-Catholics as well: for example, its opposition to insurance coverage of contraceptives as part of medical care reforms.

The likeliest heirs to Pope Benedict are very like him. Still, we can hope a younger pope with a touch of political savvy and a 21st century world view might yet emerge from the Vatican enclave and surprise us all.